


doesn’t matter if the world’s a cold place

by softtofustew



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, ChanLix, Fluff, HYUNSUNG, Humor, M/M, Skiing, other members not mentioned sorry!!, seungbin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 00:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16587329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softtofustew/pseuds/softtofustew
Summary: skiing amateurs hyunjin and felix get a helping hand from jisung and chan, respectively, on a cold sunday morning on a snow-capped hill.





	doesn’t matter if the world’s a cold place

**Author's Note:**

  * For [seochangbin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/seochangbin/gifts).



> title: get cool by stray kids! //
> 
> this one is for seochangbin because the works are incredible, and this one was inspired after i read surf’s up, bro! for the nth time uwu. i hope you enjoy this!!

if hwang hyunjin knew he was going to be struggling himself into ski boots at half past seven in the chilly morning of pyeongchang on a sunday of all days, he wouldn’t have agreed to join felix and seungmin on their skiing holiday trip sometime in late december, when the coldness is this close to too cold to even bear. he hops around on one foot while practically wrestling with the heavy boot.

from the counter where seungmin is paying for the ski equipment rentals, he laughs at his friend. “hyunjin-hyung, sit your ass down and strap the thing in properly,” he taunts playfully.

hyunjin rolls his eyes at the older, but plops himself down on a nearby bench anyhow, not paying any fleeting attention on the other sat fixing his helmet on the other end. bending down, he tries to strap the binding in properly, but either side of his foot throbs from how tight the boot is. he hadn’t wanted to fuss about the boot sizes, especially with the insistent throng of people milling about in the rental shop, so he thought he would’ve just sucked it up and skid with them.

on another bench, felix is fixing his gloves onto his hands, all ready for skiing. it’s his first time alongside hyunjin, but unlike his friend, felix is actually excited: it snowed last night, heavily, and the snow lays on the ground in fluffy layers today, practically gleaming white under the minimum sunshine.

“shit,” hyunjin groans as he tries with all his might to push the binding down on his ski boot. he barely even realises the other person on the bench looking over at him.

“is it too small for you?” startled, hyunjin peers up for his eyes to land on a boy, who can’t be too much older than the eighteen-year-old himself - his eyes are bright, chubby cheeks peeking out from under the checkered scarf he’s wearing around his neck. before hyunjin can utter a response, the boy kneels down to adjust the boot. “ah, it’s obviously too tight for you. you better hurry and exchange this pair for another, okay?”

by now, seungmin and felix are all wrapped up, gripping onto their skis and ski poles. they watch as the scene slowly unfolds before their eyes. “i’m heading off first,” seungmin mumbles, followed by something incoherent wherein felix catches a  _ god, amateurs _ . “remember, the both of your coaches are chan and jisung. i asked them to coach y’all side-by-side so the two of you won’t, like, freak out.”

before felix can protest, seungmin races off, leaving the other in the dust to wait for hyunjin to pout and reply to the stranger, “the ski rental counter is so busy, though.” with that, he gestures to the said counter, where the cashier is dashing from one end of the shop back to the counter and to the other end, in search for the desired boots the customer’s bugging him on about.

“oh, you mean changbin?” the boy winces a bit. “yeah, we’re slightly understaffed because most of the rental workers took leave for the christmas holidays.” at the word we’re, hyunjin frowns slightly before his eyes skim the nametag on the boy’s ski jacket.  _ han jisung _ . hyunjin flushes when he realises that  _ this _ is his coach.

shit. he’s cute.

hyunjin nonchalantly runs a hand through his hair. “so how now?”

“wait here,” jisung says, before dashing off. quizzically, hyunjin’s eyes follow the boy, who zips around the shop pretty fast for someone running around in the heavy boots that make you obviously walk  _ heel, toe, heel, toe _ . but jisung does it so effortlessly that within seconds he’s back with another pair.

“this one’s a size bigger for width, so it should fit your foot.” and it does. hyunjin marvels at how good the other is at guessing at his boot size. when he struggles with the binding, jisung instructs him one-by-one. “click it there, and then push the binding down.” click! “yeah, that’s it.”

satisfied, jisung helps hyunjin up. his bare hand feels warm against hyunjin’s cold one, and for once, a wave of warmth rushes all over hyunjin’s body, like waves from a heater, but with a tinge of sweetness as jisung flashes him a grin. “c’mon. let’s get you going.”

felix is already on his way to the snow bump just outside the entrance to the ski rental shop, his skis and ski poles in tow. he’s honestly a mess, to be frank, what with the skis being way too heavy and the ski poles dangling around in all directions as he tries to muster the strength to lug them all, and to top it off, felix keeps tripping over the ski boots.

“need some help?” a velvety voice cuts in from behind him. just as felix swivels around to meet the source of the sound, the weight bearing down on his left arm dissipates into nothing as a stranger suddenly takes up felix’s skis. “you’re felix, right? the kid who signed you up - seungmin - said that you’re probably the kid with orange dyed hair tripping over his feet.” with that, the other boy laughs whole-heartedly.

felix is transfixed as the snowflakes flutter down all around them. the coach - the letters splayed across the nametag pinned lopsided on his jacket read  _ bang chan _ , followed by the hangul letters felix can barely make out - is hands-down  _ the _ most gorgeous person felix has laid his eyes on in a while. his eyes are curved upwards as he smiles. blonde curls tumble out from under his maroon beanie, the contrasting colours making him look all the more brighter. when he realises that the coach is carrying both his and his own skis, felix blushes harder. 

the words are lodged in felix’s throat momentarily before he can force them out. “y-yeah,” he stutters, before stumbling over a bump in the snow, causing him to yelp. chan laughs again.

“you okay there? or do i need to carry you too?” chan teases, and he obviously wants to make felix more flustered, and  _ obviously _ the plan is working. felix tries to bury himself under his oversized helmet.

“no, i’m good.” they near the snow bump, and chan raises felix’s skis in the air before digging them into the snow, accompanied by his own skis.

“just stick the poles here for now,” chan instructs, which felix does. “all we need to do is wait for your friend and jisung- hey, there they are! hannie!” with that, chan waves furiously at the two boys just beginning to emerge from the doorway, but neither hear chan as jisung holds out an arm to steady hyunjin stumbling over the ski boots.

_ well, this is going to be interesting _ , felix thinks, as a small smile grows across his face at the sight of hyunjin blushing harder with every passing minute.

 

**_______________**

 

“holy shit- jisuuuuuuung!” hyunjin practically screeches as the ski lift cranks and creaks in a semi-circular motion, now moving eerily closer to them, who are stood clicked into their skis at a green line taped to the snowy ground. the people in the line behind him stare on awkwardly as hyunjin squeezes his eyes tight. the edge of the bench pokes into his butt and he hears jisung say “sit down!” and he does.

hyunjin swallows a scream as the ski lift barrier is pulled down and the ski lift picks up its pace, creaking here and there as it brings them higher and higher and higher into the chilly morning air. beside him, jisung pulls down his scarf to laugh at hyunjin and his frightened expression etched into his face. they’d left their ski poles at the snow bump, and so jisung lifts a hand to pat the younger’s shoulder. “calm down, haha! you’re the funniest first-timer i’ve had in a while,” he comments lightly.

the other boy opens his eyes slowly. through his goggles pressing against his face, he gazes down at the snow. the sound of skis gliding serenely along the smooth slopes is punctuated by the occasional squeal of kids skiing in group classes. overhead, the snow-capped hills twinkle under the bright sunshine. the boy lets out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding in for a long time.

in the ski lift behind them, chan squirms around in his seat, causing the lift to creak and swing slightly. trembling, felix is scared out of his wits as he grips onto the safety barrier for good measure. “chan, do you mind, um…” he doesn’t really know how to say  _ stop shaking the goddamned lift! _ in korean, but chan looks up at him and looks at him square in the eye.

“stop moving the lift, you mean?” chan abruptly switches to english, and felix is surprised by his australian accent. when chan notices how shocked the other is, he giggles. “Iim born and bred in australia, lixie, you can speak in english if you feel more comfy about it. seungmin did mention you’re not a native speaker.”

“oh.” felix blushes harder. he’s currently contemplating whether to hug seungmin out of glee or hit him hard over the head the next time he sees the guy himself. “oh, okay then.”

chan grins, before finally sliding his phone out from his back pocket. for a split second, felix is terrified by the prospect of chan’s phone slipping out of the boy’s fingers and tumbling to the snowy wilderness underneath and knocking out a poor passer-by skiing along, but then remembers that chan’s probably been on a ski lift half of his whole life, so he keeps his mouth shut. “the scenery’s real nice today, yeah?” felix hums in agreement as chan takes a quick snapshot of the mountains.

while the other is distracted, felix casts a sideways glance at the coach. his jae is strong and set as chan focuses on the image. his lips are full and pursed together, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he takes another photo. felix imagines kissing those lips- god, stop it.  _ you’ve met him for a bare few minutes, and now you’re thinking about snogging your goddamned ski coach. great going, felix! _

trying to deter himself from full-on staring at the other, felix pushes his goggles up to look at the scenery properly. beside him, chan takes a good look at the younger. “oh my god, you look so cute with those freckles!”

“what?” felix chokes out. 

“do you want a photo together for, like, a ‘before skiing’ and ‘after skiing’ meme photo i can edit later?” chan offers, and it is honestly the weirdest thing felix has heard all day, heck, maybe even all week, but chan takes felix’s silence as agreement and he sidles up closer to felix, and suddenly the younger can’t breathe. “okay, you gotta smile, y’know, because later your face is going to be caked with snow from your falls. say cheese!”

and it’s the cheesiest thing on earth, but felix still blushes as chan clicks a photo of them, his dimples popping, and god, that’s cute. chan takes another photo, this one with a duck face, and grins as he examines the photos. “you look so cute here, look at this,” chan chuckles as he passes the phone to felix. 

and of  _ course _ felix chooses that time to have slippery fingers, because the second he grabs the phone, they slip right out of his hands and the phone clatters off of the safety barrier. if you put the image into a slow-motion picture, you’ll see felix’s mouth forming a “nooooooo!” and chan leaning over the edge as the phone falls down, down, down, all the way down before falling screen-first against a mound of snow below them.

at the sound of felix’s screaming, hyunjin and jisung swivel around, alarmed, causing the ski lift to sway a little, and now it’s hyunjin’s turn to scream. “holy shit, holy shit!” hyunjin yelps out instinctively.

in that space and time, both jisung and chan make eye contact with each other, both cracking a small smile across their faces at the sheer hopelessness of their amateur students.  _ god, what are we going to do with them? _

 

**_______________**

 

“when you’re skiing,” jisung starts, looking at hyunjin to check if he’s paying attention, “you place your feet side-by-side, in parallel lines, to move down the hill in a straight line.” at this, he gives a demonstration, gliding down the green run slowly, thanks to the slightly flat slope of the hill. about a couple of feet away, jisung halts and turns around to face hyunjin. “come down!”

hyunjin braces for the best, before finally moving from the wedge he’s dug into the snow with his skis to stop him from moving away - and he glides down. “oh god, oh god, oh god,” hyunjin blabbers as the skis pick up speed and he glides along the slope. problem is, he skis right past jisung. “jisuuuuuung!”

“wedge! make the upside down v-shape!” jisung shouts from behind hyunjin, but hyunjin screams because he. cannot. stop. his screams alert other skiers, and a whole bunch of kids from the children’s group class squeal, hurriedly moving out of the way as hyunjin zooms right past them, picking up speed with every passing second. “hyunjin, make a wedge!”

“i caaaaan’t!” hyunjin screeches at the tops of his lungs, arms swinging out to balance himself. he barely notices the mound of snow ahead of him, and he screams blue murder as he sails right over the mound, flying in the air momentarily before the skis fall flat back against the smooth snow, cutting through as he continues to race down the slope.

the sound of skis slicing through gentle snow is heard, louder and louder, from behind hyunjin. scared out of his wits, hyunjin cranes his neck to the side to see jisung tearing down the slope, back crouched down to pick up the pace. “hyunjin, look out!”

“what?!” hyunjin wails, but then turns in front to notice a boy sat on the snowy hill, adjusting the bindings on his snowboard, right smack dab in front of his pathway. “shit shit shit shit shit!” 

his instincts call to him, and he windmills to the side, arms flailing out for support as he crashes into the snow sideways, the ski boots clicking out of the skis by themselves, the skis flung across the snow a couple of feet away from where hyunjin now lays sore against the ground. the boy on the snowboard turns around, confused to see the other groaning in pain on the ground. “you good, man?” he shouts.

“y-yeah,” hyunjin manages, before groaning as a shot of pain rises up his left arm. it’s not a broken bone, but it feels like it. hyunjin feels even more helpless as jisung skids to a halt beside him, eyes concerned and wary.

“you okay?” jisung clicks the skis off of his ski boots before trudging over to where hyunjin is sprawled across the snow, near the edge of the slope decorated with a thicket of pine trees. the coach crouches down to inspect hyunjin, hovering over him. he takes hyunjin’s arms gently. “does it hurt anywhere?”

“not really,” hyunjin mumbles. he takes jisung’s hand and the other easily lifts him to his feet. despite the situation, jisung sighs in relief and pats hyunjin’s shoulder.

jisung says, “as long as you’re fine. maybe i shouldn’t have gotten you going until you perfected the wedge,” he chuckles a little. with his help, hyunjin manages to click the skis back on in a matter of only a few minutes. “we’re nearing the flatter edge of the slope already, so let’s complete this guy and probably move to the bunny slope to perfect your basic moves first. and teach you how to fall without injuring yourself.”

with that said, jisung holds onto hyunjin’s right hand, fingers in gloves intertwined, and laces his left hand with hyunjin’s. with his back facing the slope, jisung faces hyunjin, grin plastered across his face. “let’s practise the wedge, alright? dig the upside-down v-shape all the way down this part of the slope, okay?”

hyunjin can’t answer - it feels like he’s holding his breath as he looks at jisung, at jisung’s hair peeking out from under the helmet, at jisung’s bright gleeful eyes despite obviously receiving second-hand embarrassment, at jisung’s lips tugged into a half-grin. he focuses on jisung as he takes off slowly, the wedge keeping him at a slow moving pace. “yeah, that’s right, keep going,” jisung murmurs. hyunjin’s heart pounds harder against his chest as the other squeezes hyunjin’s hands. he squeezes them back.

at one point, hyunjin almost loses his balance, but jisung, small as he looks, pushes him back into balance with such ease. “careful,” jisung mumbles quietly, and his lower register sends a shiver down hyunjin’s back.

far up at the top of the slope, on the other hand, chan and felix are doing much more sightseeing than teaching and learning. “jisung is definitely smitten by your friend,” chan muses. 

felix squints into the distance. “i think it’s the other way around. hyunjin couldn’t stop blushing the second jisung asked him about his ski boots.”

“really, huh,” chan chuckles. he turns to felix. “let’s learn from their mistake - i won’t ask you to place your skis in parallel yet. perhaps you should master the wedge first, huh?” he offers the younger boy a grin, showing off the cute dimples on either side of his lips. forget hyunjin, felix  _ himself _ is smitten.

“oh, yeah. about your phone…”

“oh, yeah, that,” chan guffaws as if he completely forgot about it. “how about we ski over there to pick up my phone? it’s good practice for you.”

hesitation lines felix’s expression. “um…”

“we’ll take it slow,” chan says. “ease yourself into the wedge first.”

“okayyyy,” felix mumbles under his breath as he sucks in his courage and slowly digs a wedge into the snow. he moves like a tortoise, as slowly as ever, as he glides down the slope. the feel of the snow crunching under his skis loosens him up a little, enough for him to loosen his wedge too, carefully picking up pace.

chan woops. “just like that, felix!” he praises, skiing alongside the boy at an equally sloth-slow speed. “it’s a little tougher because we’re going to veer off to the right side under the ski lifts, and i haven’t taught you turning yet. try and put more of your weight on your left foot, and you’ll turn right.” felix does as said, and it’s true - he does turn right, though at a painstakingly-slow rate.

after a few minutes, felix’s knees begin to wobble. “we’re moving really slowly,” he whines. 

chan casts him a look. “well, who decided to drop my phone?” he teases, making felix blush brightly. “i’m kidding. you look adorable when you’re flustered, anyways.” with that, he skis off ahead first, locating his phone in the mound of slow underneath the ski lift. left behind, felix watches chan rip through the snow with ease, and tries to imagine the older’s muscles rippling underneath all those layers, surging him forward and back to where felix has apparently halted to stare at his coach -  _ god, get a grip of yourself, felix! _

“never mind. felt like you were getting bored. change of course; let’s head down the slope!” he grins widely. way off ahead of them, hyunjin’s fallen again, with jisung laughing at his student and helping him back up again, only for hyunjin to fall again.

chan takes notice of where felix’s gaze is on. “they’re kinda cute,” he muses.

“hyunjin’s smitten by anyone, honestly,” felix snorts. “i wouldn’t be surprised if they kissed right now-”

“-holy  _ shit _ ,” chan curses, and felix’s attention is back on the two now. hyunjin and jisung are currently liplocked, kissing each other furiously in the middle of the goddamned ski slope, hands reaching out to wrap around each other. the same group class hyunjin almost bowled right over earlier stares on, some in awe, some in disgust. chan recognises woojin the instructor clicking his tongue and almost screeching for the kids to look away. the two of them laugh aloud when woojin shakes a fist at the kissing couple, followed by a ‘jisung, can you not snog your student in front of these kids?!’

rooted to the spot, felix blinks. “i rest my case.”

 

**_______________**

 

a couple of runs (and make-out sessions) later, jisung grins at hyunjin. “we should get that lunch break now,” he announces. the other nods his head furiously, and he’s so pretty that jisung can’t resist to lean over and kiss the other’s lips gently, the snow falling onto their noses brushing against each other. 

behind them, chan sticks his and felix’s skis along with their poles near the entrance to the ski rental shop. “seems like your friend and hannie are heading off for lunch,” chan muses. “you got any other single friends?” he adds jokingly.

“there’s seungmin, but-” felix is cut off when there’s a holler of his name. swivelling around, he catches sight of seungmin in the rental shop, throwing felix a thumbs-up. 

when felix trudges over to seungmin, the boy grins. “um, i’m grabbing lunch with changbin here.” with that, he juts a thumb at the cashier, who offers felix an awkward wave. “is that okay?”

“yeah, sure,” felix replies, mustering an approving smile as seungmin claps his hands together and drags changbin out for his lunch break. with his two friends paired up, felix feels slightly empty, the knot in his stomach beginning to tighten and gnaw at his insides. he settles down onto an empty bench to yank his ski boots off when the bench creaks underneath him. as he turns his head, he’s surprised by a pair of full lips pressing against his cheek. 

he pulls away abruptly, surprised by the sudden kiss. “chan, i-”

“-sorry, that must’ve been out of the blue.” pink splotches appear across chan’s pale cheeks, paler from the wintry bite of the breeze outside. “is that okay with you?”

felix’s heart leaps higher and higher, soaring amongst the clouds overhead. “y-yeah.”

grinning, chan leans in to kiss felix’s cheek again, softly, just lips grazing skin for a second or two before pulling back to meet felix’s eyes. their ski boots bump each other. “you wanna go for lunch together, then?”

“yeah.” felix swallows his nerves. “yeah. definitely. totally.”

with help from chan, the ski boots are off of felix’s feet, instead replaced by a pair of flip-flops. the two smile at each other before chan carefully slips his hand into felix’s, leading him out of the ski rental shop. felix smiles at the prospect of more slopes, more falls. more wintry kisses.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/softtofustew_) // [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/softtofustew_) // [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/softtofustew)


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